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This video blew my freaking mind. I mean, are we REALLY aware of how fast our world is growing? It’s a crazy concept to think about. I feel like a lot of us don’t really consider the fact that technology isn’t ever going to stop improving. We kind of get into the mind set that we’re as advanced as we’re ever going to be. But just look at where we were just 10 years ago. We relied on dial-up internet, Facebook didn’t even really exist in social media, and smartphones were a thing of science fiction. The idea that the top 10 jobs in 2010 didn’t even exist in 2004 not only shows how fast and ever evolving the world is, but also shows that what we think we want as a career might not even exist by the time we graduate. It’s a scary thought. It just shows that we can’t ever get too comfortable with life as we know it. We have to stay educated in the world around us. Our time in college is precious. It’s a chance to educate ourselves not just in school but it gives us a chance to be outside observers to whats really happening. Right now, most of us don’t have jobs, bills to pay, or houses to mortgage; just our school and social lives. We need to challenge ourselves to be observant of how things are changing, because theres no telling what the world will be in 4 years when we take the world by storm, all we know is that we have to prepare ourselves for the unexpected and keep our eyes open for new opportunity.

At first I was pretty skeptical about having to attend a learning workshop. I honestly didn’t know what I would get out of it if anything, but it turns out I learned a lot! Not necessarily about myself, but about how to help others. The idea of being able to identify the best way individual people learn is an effective tool that I can use to not only teach more effectively, but lead people more effectively. It’s a great thing to keep in mind while trying to communicate with people, and I’m really glad I went. (:

My Strong profile states that my talents lie in my social, enterprising, and artistic skills. I never actually thought of my self as an “enterprising” person. Thats the only one that surprised me. But after reading through the descriptions it all rings pretty true to who I am, what I’m good at, and what I love to do. Once again, teaching as a profession was number one on the list, and I could not be happier about it. I love the reassurance that what I want to do is a good fit for me and is something that I can enjoy doing for the rest of my life. Delivering information to people in a way that people can understand has always been a love of mine, and the idea that I can do it for the rest of my life excites and motivates me. I know we aren’t supposed to base our life decisions on these tests, but in all honesty it’s these results that have given me the final push into becoming a high school teacher. I’ve chosen English as the main subject I want to teach because of my artistic skills when it comes to writing and mass communication. As far as enterprising goes I’ve definitely developed good leadership skills through my experiences in high school and with non-profit work. I love managing people in a way thats productive and reaches common goals. Which is another good attribute to have as a teacher. (:

It’s actually really strange to me how this test has shown me how much I really know myself. It’s pretty ironic that I find this through a test required by a course that I’m taking because I don’t know what I want. I would definitely say that my results from the Myers-Briggs personality test are absolutely true. I and the test both agree that I am an introversive, intuitive, feeling, perceiver. I see examples of all of these things in pretty much everything I do and react to. While I love theatre and being on stage, I’ve come to find that I make it pretty difficult for people to get to know me. Not because I’m closed off to people really, but because it’s hard to get me talking. Although, if you talk to my closest friends they’d tell you they’d wish I’d do just the opposite. I do consider myself a pretty big picture thinker. It’s a good thing mostly, but sometimes it makes me forget that sometimes you need to just take one step at a time. It makes it easy to get overwhelmed this way.I hardly ever take the logical route when given a tough decision. I get myself in a lot of trouble because of the fact I think with my heart and not my head. But this also gives me the gift to work well with people. Understanding where they’re coming from, and delivering information in a way they can understand. And.. I am unfortunately, but admittedly, the most unorganized an individual can be. My room and car are scattered in clothes, papers, hair products, etc. And it’s definitely a factor in whats gotten me a little behind when it comes to school. However, I love that I can own to being spontaneous. It’s an attribute that has brought me the greatest of adventures and the best of stories. While making it a habit can be dangerous, I believe a little spontaneous decision making is healthy for a person. Keeps me on my toes. (:

Seeing my results and knowing them all to be true only confirms to me that I really do want in my deepest of desires to teach. I came to college in the mindset to keep my options open but after this its clear to me I can’t really see myself doing anything else. It’s what I love. So It’s what I’ll do. (:

Being an undecided major at UNT has motivated me to really think about what some of my long term goals are. Such as 1. Making all As so I can get into grad school and farther my education. This is my current priority because I feel like the longer I can stay in school, the better the outcome later when it’s time for me to find a career, whichever that my be. My other long term goals include:

2. Finding a major that I will enjoy doing for the rest of my life.

3. Traveling the world to broaden my horizons and get to know all kinds of people.

4. Find a career in helping people in a way that gives them hope. Whether thats by teaching or by working for a non-profit organization. It’s something that is very near to my heart and something that I want to pursue no matter what.

5. Get back involved with theater. It’s what I love and I feel like I’ll have a better handle on things if I have my focus on something that I really love to do.

6. I would love to someday after I graduate to go to acting school in New York City. While I know this is something that may never happen, its always been a distant dream of mine that i can’t seem to let go no matter how old I get.

7. To be fluent in sign language so that I can help communicate to those that have trouble in our everyday society.

8. To get really fit and healthy.

9. To quit smoking.

10. To find something in my life that will give me happiness even in times of darkness.

So it turns out I have absolutely not been taking advantage of the time I have and hears what I’ve learned:

My pie actually doesn’t look as unappetizing as I had anticipated. It’s amazing how much free time I was really wasting that I didn’t even realize. It’s definitely tasty in the sense that I now have a huge chunk of previously wasted time that I can really dig in to to get all of my work done. It turns out that most of my time goes to going to social things and just hanging out with my roommate. I also noticed that I spend a great deal of time smoking cigarettes. If it takes 10 minutes for me to smoke a cigarette and I have 5 a day thats nearly an hour of time I could be using to do more productive things. And it comes out to over four hours a week! If I’m being totally honest, the least of my time right now goes to homework. I’m having a lot of trouble getting settled in and focused on what needs to be done. It’s proving to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated for sure. It’s way too easy to get behind and it’s just something that I desperately need to work on if I want to succeed. Right now I’d have to say my time management is not balanced enough. I need to tip the scales and really make time for school, because in the end thats all that matters. A big time waster for me other than smoking cigarettes is just watching tv in my dorm. It’s so easy to think you’re just watching one show and the next thing you know it’s three hours later and you’ve accomplished absolutely nothing. Not exactly the best feeling in the world, I can tell you that much. I definitely need to work on saying “no” when I know I have work to do. I think the best way to go about that is just being honest with whoever that I have homework and I can’t. If they can’t understand that, then I think it’s safe to assume they’re not very good friends anyway. I’m definitely glad we did this project. It really opened my eyes to the fact that my time is only limited if I make it that way. And there are plenty of ways to use my time effectively for success! (:

My name is Astara Dianne Blain, but most people know me as Tara. I graduated from Reagan County High School in a small town in west Texas, along with about 50 other students. I love to write and I aspire to find a major that will give me the tools for a career in helping people. I love theatre! And have been actively involved in various theatre groups since I was about 7. I am now at Kerr hall where I mostly watch cartoons with my roommate and eat junk food.